Sayville businessman leads Assemb. Ginny Fields

Ken Mangan, an upstart Sayville businessman backed by the state teachers union, appeared to have wrested the Democratic Assembly nomination from six-year incumbent Ginny Fields of Oakdale last night.

In Nassau, 21-year Assembly veteran Harvey Weisenberg of Long Beach rallied late and claimed victory over Democratic primary challenger Jeffrey Toback, a former county legislator, in the 20th District. Toback said the results were not conclusive and he was not conceding.

Mangan had been the underfinanced challenger going into the final days of the campaign - $5,591 to Fields' $29,250 in the most recent comprehensive reports - but he continued to hold a 200-vote lead as the returns flowed in late last night.

"We are definitely declaring ourselves the winner. We are looking forward to November and moving on to bring the change we need to Albany," Mangan said.

Fields was down 206 votes with seven precincts left to report at about 10:40 p.m. when she hugged Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer and said: "It can't be. It can't be."

Earlier this year, Fields angered the state teachers union when she said teachers should reopen their contracts and agree to a wage freeze to help the state balance its budget.

Despite a somber scene at her campaign headquarters, Fields would not concede last night, saying she wants the new voting machines checked first.

In Nassau, Plainview store owner Francesca Carlow was leading in early returns in the Democratic primary for the Sixth State Senate District. She would face longtime Republican incumbent Kemp Hannon in the general election.

Carlow's uphill campaign got a boost on Sept. 1 when the Democratic Party favorite, David Mejias, was arrested on charges of menacing and stalking his ex- girlfriend. Mejias dropped out of the race Thursday, but his name remained on the ballot.

The Carlow-Mejias contest was one of only four major-party primaries - not counting a sprinkling of minor-party and judicial contests - for the 30 state legislative positions (nine Senate seats and 21 Assembly seats) on Long Island on the ballot this fall.

In another Nassau race, Elmont activist Patrick Nicolosi was ahead of Mimi Johnson, the Democratic Party favorite in the 21st Assembly District in Franklin Square.

The winner of the Nicolosi-Johnson contest will face Republican Edward Ra, a deputy town attorney with the Town of Hempstead, in the general election. The district's incumbent Republican, Thomas Alfano, is stepping down after more than 14 years. Ra last night had a seemingly insurmountable lead over Patricia Friedman in the contest for the Conservative Party line in that district.

In a minor-party primary in Suffolk, opponents of John Capobianco, the Democratic nominee in the general election, were waging a write-in campaign against him on the Working Families Party line in the 10th Assembly District in Huntington Station. Republican James Conte is the incumbent.